Man charged in string of shoplifting incidents

A man linked to a series of local shoplifting incidents was charged early last Friday with stealing cigarettes and a cell phone from Cumberland Farms, 1101 Post Road.

Vincent Givens, 50, with no known address, was charged with sixth-degree larceny and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was held on a $2,500 bond and was scheduled to appear Aug. 3 at state Superior Court in Bridgeport.

Givens, however, was served with a warrant for sixth-degree larceny for a series of similar incidents when he appeared in court Friday in connection with another incident.

According to police, in the most recent incident, Givens went into the Cumberland Farms store just before 5 a.m. last Friday and asked about breakfast sandwiches. An employee, who was mopping the floor, told him she could heat up a sandwich if he wanted one, but he declined and left, according to the report.

He then came back to the store and began walking toward the employee-only door. Asked what he wanted, Givens said he was looking for the bathroom. She directed him to the public bathrooms, police said.

Givens used the restroom, then came back out into the store. He then allegedly went into the store’s back room, grabbed five cartons of Newport cigarettes and an employee’s iPhone 6 and fled on a bicycle, police said.

He was spotted by officers on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport and taken into custody. In his possession were the cigarettes, the iPhone and a crack pipe, according to the report.

The warrant, charging Givens with three counts of sixth-degree larceny, is related to three incidents earlier this month where Givens is alleged to have taken merchandise from the CVS on Grasmere Avenue.

In one instance, he took $159 worth of toothpaste, police said, and in another he tried to steal $180 worth of electronics, and in the third incident, hair-care products.

Givens, whose bond was raised to $20,000, also has been charged previously with robbery, obstructing justice, assault and criminal use of a firearm in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, according to police.